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THE STATISTICS
Government Problem (2003)
Virgin Records

These New London punks forge a sound that's straight-up 1977. At the same time, they have an uncanny ability to look forward, even incorporating electronica into the hard-hitting "AmericaNazi." The Statistics' eclecticism makes them the current champions of the thriving British new-new-wave scene. Their six-minute cover of Bob Marley and the Wailers' classic "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)" features a brass ensemble and turns into a lounge jam by the end without wasting a second of vital energy.

The urgency comes through in spades. Frontman Steve Deathknoll doesn't just sound pissed on "It Shits Me," in which he complains of "shit on the telly and chicks on my mind," he sounds murderous. It is essentially a rewrite of "Satisfaction," and a great one. Even better is the hit "What's the Matter (With My Radio)," in which Deathknoll becomes unusually poetic: "Bands that understand, they're a dying breed / The fuckin' radio just wants Metallica and Creed." Scott Stapp has already given Deathknoll a "public warning" about this attitude, according to the NME.

Like hip hop's Younited G-Children, the Statistics pull no punches -- the bruising "Dick Cheney" imagines a torrid affair between the eponymous vice president's wife and British prime minister Tony Blair -- but they're also not afraid to calm down. The politically charged "Sidewalk Habitat" mourns the death of "Jimmy Jazz, my homeless friend / Had a needle in his neck when he came to an end." Bassist Jeffrey Dahmer (not his real name, of course) provides a soft, moving lead vocal that yearns for the past on "1978" and sings the praises of single-payer health care on "Can't Get My Medication." Meanwhile, "Rebel Shuffle" is a modern "Stay Free" with wild time signature switches thrown in for good measure (no pun intended), and "I.O.U." concedes that "Yeah, I owe you money" but follows that revelation with a three-chord attack and the repeated chorus "Who the fuck cares?"

They can't all be winners, of course. The wrongheaded "UK Power" slams virtually every other band to come out of the Statistics' homeland: "The Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks and the Who / Don't mean shit to me and they shouldn't to you / Radiohead, Blur, Travis and Suede / Art school pussies who never got laid." The band is mining territory they can't handle when they attempt rockabilly on a version of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" (word is that the two female backup vocalists left the studio in disgust when Deathknoll vomited on one of them), not to mention their own "A&M," a blatant ripoff of the Sex Pistols' "EMI." That's to speak nothing of the insanely pretentious "(You Don't Understand) Our Plight," on which Deathknoll sounds more like Bono than Johnny Rotten, and "I Fucked the Queen (I Fucked the President)," which is at least twice as tasteless as the title would have you believe but unfortunately not as interesting.

Still, when Deathknoll snarls in one track "I swear I'll be up fighting at dawn," he sounds like he means it, and the Statistics are a force to be reckoned with.


Tracklist:
1. What's the Matter (With My Radio)
2. State Building
3. On the Street
4. Ekonomiks
5. It Shits Me
6. Renegade Me
7. Fighting at Dawn
8. Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)
9. Dick Cheney
10. Killin' Fields
11. Proud Assassin
12. I.O.U.
13. Rebel Shuffle
14. AmericaNazi
15. Sidewalk Habitat
16. I Fucked the Queen (I Fucked the President)
17. (You Don't Understand) Our Plight
18. UK Power
19. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
20. 1978
21. A&M
22. Can't Get My Medication